1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information networks, and particularly to a network system or platform for marketing by vendors of retail products and services to customers.
2. Discussion of the Known Art
U.S. Pat. No. 7,665,107 (Feb. 16, 2010) discloses a viral advertising system wherein an advertisement selected for viewing on-line by a user who is a member of a social network, is distributed to one or more other members of the user's social network. Further, U.S. Pat. Appl'n Pub. No. 2010/0004980 (Jan. 7, 2010) concerns a system for tracking information relating to products, including a centralized system hub that is configured between vendors and consumers so that a consumer can search for information about a vendor's products, and the vendor can provide product, promotional and discount information to the consumer who can then pass the information on to others within his or her social network. Like the '107 U.S. patent, however, the '980 publication does not suggest that any product, promotional or discount information received by the consumer may be distributed automatically to members of the consumer's social network in response to a point of sale (POS) or on-line transaction between the consumer and the vendor.
U.S. Pat. Appl'n Pub. No. 2009/0288012 (Nov. 19, 2009) describes a secure electronic transaction system that includes a coupon and advertising configuration. The '012 publication states: “It is noted that the coupons are also viral. If the advertiser who defined the coupon allows it, users of the system can transfer or share those coupons with the contacts in their social network, . . . ”. Par. [0274], at pages 29-30. The publication does not disclose a system wherein a given user can opt whether or not to allow advertiser coupons to be distributed automatically to his or her contacts at the time of a transaction between the user and the advertiser, however.
Further, U.S. Pat. Appl'n Pub. No. 2010/0131385 (May 27, 2010) relates to a networked computing system for distributing commercial digital media content. The publication makes reference to so-called activity based advertising, wherein members of a given social network service (SNS) may be notified of a fellow member's on-line purchase of a particular digital recording (e.g., a CD) from a media content provider (MCP).
Notwithstanding the known techniques for disseminating advertising and promotional materials virally through social networks, there remains a need for a mechanism that ties a customer's purchase, whether transacted on-line or physically at a point of sale on the seller's premises, with the customer's unique identity (e.g., a customer loyalty card ID) and effectively rewards the customer and his or her networked friends as a function of the customer's purchasing activity.